One of the more popular groups of toys which have been provided through the years are those generally referred as kitchen toys. Kitchen toys, which are made popular in part by the tendency of young girls to seek to mimic the activities of their parents in the kitchen areas during cooking or other activities, have assumed a variety of shapes and structures. Such kitchen toys have included miniature stoves, refrigerators or other kitchen appliances. Some of these kitchen appliances have included operative features intended to impart a reasonable degree of realistic action to increase the enjoyment on the part of the child user. Other types of kitchen toys have included various miniaturized cooking utensils and other objects generally found about the typical kitchen.
Other related and often similar types of toys include those operating in response to water or water flow. Such toys have included miniature tub and shower facilities as well as replicas of laundry facilities or the like. In many cases, the replicas of tubs, showers or laundry toys have been directed at use with cooperating dolls and doll clothing.
Faced with the continuing need for evermore realistic childrens' toys, practitioners in the art have endeavored to impart realism to their kitchen toys and similar articles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,101 issued to Tomita sets forth a TOY KITCHEN ASSEMBLY in which a toy stove assembly includes a housing member configured to simulate a stove having an upper burner portion. A cooking vessel includes an aperture false bottom connected to a conduit that extends to the exterior of the cooking vessel. Pressurized air is generated and connected to the conduit such that air can be introduced into the cooking vessel to simulate boiling of any liquid substance within the cooking vessel. A toy kitchen sink may be included with the stove assembly utilizing the pressurized air to provide water pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,997,807 issued to Woron sets forth a TOY TOASTER having a generally rectangular housing defining a pair of toast receiving slots on the upper surface thereof. A spring loaded toast carrier is vertically movable within the rectangular enclosure to provide movement of simulated bread within the toy toaster corresponding to toast popping up.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,120 issued to Waak sets forth a TOY TOASTER including a housing supporting a mechanism having a presettable spring actuated timing device which is operative when a lever is depressed to lower simulated slices of bread through a pair of upper slots into the toy toaster housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,846,933 issued to Hill, et al. sets forth a PNEUMATIC TOY STOVE ACCESSORY in which a simulated toy stove is provided with a source of pressurized air. A simulated burner receives the pressurized air and couples it to a simulated uncooked food item such as a pie, cake or the like having a simulated crust or other portion made from a stretchable diaphragm. As the pressurized air builds within the simulated dish, the simulated crust becomes distended and rises simulating the action of a crust in a cooking dish.
U.S. Pat. No. Des.152,185 issued to Barr sets forth a COMBINED TOY SINK WATER DISPENSER AND RECEIVER comprising a miniaturized sink of the type found within a bathroom having a faucet attached thereto and a mirror cabinet supported on the back portion thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,034 issued to Tsui, et al. sets forth a TOY WASHING MACHINE having a cabinet including a toy opening and an internally supported tub. A rotatable agitator is supported in a movable fashion within the tub and is driven by an agitating mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,001 issued to Meyer, et al. sets forth a DOLL SHOWER AND BUBBLEBATH DEVICE simulating a shower or bath facility. The device includes a base tub portion having an upstanding post supporting a shower head which includes a spray nozzle. The nozzle is supplied with water through a conduit in response to a bellows-like pump which operates in combination with a check valve to pump water in a recycling fashion from the tub through the conduit and thence from the shower nozzle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,531 issued to Sloan sets forth an AMUSEMENT DEVICE for providing the visual effect of a doll figure being showered. The doll is mounted within an enclosure chamber having partially transparent walls. Water is showered downwardly upon the doll figure under the urging of gravity from an upper reservoir through a nozzle in the upper portion of the fixture.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,015,828 issued to Beebe sets forth a SPRAY BATH having a simulated bathtub together with a recirculating pump which provides a pressurized liquid stream to a flexible hose terminating in a spray nozzle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,643 issued to Hippely, et al. sets forth a TOY VEHICLE WITH THERMOCHROMIC MATERIAL in which a toy vehicle is painted with a thermochromic paint to provide a variety of patterns, designs and the like which change color in response to temperature variations.
While the foregoing described prior art devices have provided entertaining and often amusing toys for use by younger children, there remains a continuing need in the art for evermore improved and realistic childrens' kitchen set type toys.